Abstract
The paper presents a method for measuring and modeling residual stress fields. The method is based on the evaluation of a hydrostatic initial strain distribution, which is assumed to be the cause of the residual stresses. The initial strain distribution can be used, within a numerical (e.g., finite element) model, to evaluate the complete residual stress distribution of the body. For estimating the initial strain distribution a hybrid (experimental plus numerical) technique is proposed, which is based on measuring the strain relaxed by cutting the body in incremental steps and on sensitivity coefficients obtained by properly elaborating numerical simulations.
The numerical and experimental methodologies are presented along with a general discussion of the rational way to be applied in practice.